Inapsine News

SUNDAY, Oct. 12, 2014 – Anesthesia-related complications in the United States have fallen by more than half, while the overall death rate has remained the same, a new study indicates. Researchers analyzed data from more than 3.2 million cases of anesthesia use between 2010 and 2013, and found the rate of complications decreased from 11.8 percent to 4.8 percent. The most common minor complication was nausea and vomiting (nearly 36 percent) and the most common major complication was medication error (nearly 12 percent). "Our goal was to determine the nature and incidence of surgical complications at the national level and to identify their risk factors," study author Dr. Jeana Havidich, an associate professor of anesthesiology at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in New Hampshire, said in an ASA news release. "Previous studies examined adverse events for specific surgical procedures, ... Read more

TUESDAY, June 24, 2014 – Hip fracture surgery patients who are given regional anesthesia have a slightly lower risk of death and a slightly shorter hospital stay than those who receive general anesthesia, a new study shows. Regional anesthesia involves delivery of anesthesia directly to the affected part of the body without putting the patient "to sleep." Researchers analyzed data from nearly 57,000 patients over age 50 who had hip fracture surgery in New York State between 2004 and 2011. Of those patients, 28 percent had regional anesthesia and 72 percent had general anesthesia. The death rate after 30 days was 5.3 percent for regional anesthesia patients and 5.4 percent for general anesthesia patients, which is not statistically significant. The average length of hospital stay was six days for regional anesthesia patients and 6.3 days for general anesthesia patients. The findings ... Read more

TUESDAY, Dec. 17, 2013 – For men having prostate cancer surgery, the type of anesthesia doctors use might make a difference in the odds of the cancer returning, a new study suggests. Researchers found that of nearly 3,300 men who underwent prostate cancer surgery, those who were given both general and regional anesthesia had a lower risk of seeing their cancer progress than men who received only general anesthesia. Over a period of 15 years, about 5 percent of men given only general anesthesia had their cancer recur in their bones or other sites, the researchers said. That compared with 3 percent of men who also received regional anesthesia, which typically meant a spinal injection of the painkiller morphine, plus a numbing agent. None of that, however, proves that anesthesia choices directly affect a prostate cancer patient's prognosis. "We can't conclude from this that it's ... Read more

WEDNESDAY, May 1 – Despite previous concerns, older people who receive general anesthesia are not at greater risk of developing long-term dementia or Alzheimer's disease, a new study says. The study, by researchers from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., involved 900 patients over the age of 45 who had dementia, a disease that affects brain functions such as memory, language, problem-solving and attention. All of the participants were residents of Olmsted County, Minn., from 1985 to 1994. These patients were compared to other people of similar ages living in the area who did not develop dementia during that time frame. About 70 percent of the study participants in both groups underwent surgery that required general anesthesia. Among patients who had already been diagnosed with dementia, there were no signs that their symptoms got worse due to receiving general anesthesia. Among those ... Read more

TUESDAY, March 26 – Abuse of the anesthesia drug propofol by health care professionals is a growing problem, a new study says. Propofol (Diprivan) is used to put patients to sleep for surgery and to sedate them for other procedures. It is widely used because it takes effect rapidly and offers patients a quick recovery time, with fewer side effects than other anesthetics. It was among the mix of drugs that contributed to singer Michael Jackson's death in 2009, the Los Angeles County coroner concluded. Researchers analyzed data from an addiction center specializing in substance abuse problems among health care professionals and identified 22 health care workers who were treated for propofol abuse between 1990 and 2010. During that period, there was a steady increase in the number of health care professionals treated for propofol abuse, which currently accounts for 1.6 percent of all ... Read more

TUESDAY, March 12 – Very few surgical patients experience accidental awareness while under general anesthesia, according to a new study. The Royal College of Anaesthetists and the Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland surveyed all senior anesthetists at National Health Service hospitals in the United Kingdom, asking them how many cases of accidental awareness during general anesthesia they encountered in 2011. Previous research has suggested a high rate of accidental awareness, occurring in about one in 500 patients. But this study found that the rate was one in 15,000. The researchers also found that only about 2 percent of anesthetists routinely use brain-monitoring equipment to keep tabs on patients during surgery. The findings, published in the journals Anesthesia and The British Journal of Anaesthesia, appeared online March 12. "Anesthesia is a medical ... Read more

THURSDAY, Oct. 25 – General anesthesia drugs really do put patients to sleep, suggests research conducted in mice. The study found that the drugs don't just turn wakefulness off, they also switch on important sleep circuits in the brain, according to the findings, which were published online Oct. 25 in the journal Current Biology. "Despite more than 160 years of continuous use in humans, we still do not understand how anesthetic drugs work to produce the state of general anesthesia," Dr. Max Kelz, an anesthesiologist at the University of Pennsylvania, said in a journal news release. "We show that a commonly used inhaled anesthetic drug directly causes sleep-promoting neurons to fire," Kelz said. "We believe that this result is not simply a coincidence. Rather, our view is that many general anesthetics work to cause unconsciousness in part by recruiting the brain's natural sleep ... Read more

THURSDAY, Sept. 20 – The number of people who survive surgery when general anesthesia is used has improved dramatically over the past 50 years, Canadian researchers report. The improvement was noted worldwide, with most of the increases in survival seen in developed countries, the researchers added. Overall, there was a 90 percent drop in such deaths since before the 1970s. "Anesthesia safety continues to improve, and we should continue to find ways to make it even safer," said lead researcher Dr. Daniel Bainbridge, from the department of anesthesia and perioperative medicine at the University of Western Ontario. "We have done a good job to reduce risk of anesthesia," he said. "However, it is similar to the airline industry in that passengers tend to be very concerned about dying while flying, likewise they also are concerned about dying [while] under anesthesia, so the question is ... Read more

MONDAY, Aug. 20 – Children younger than 3 who have even one surgical procedure requiring general anesthesia may be more likely to have deficits in language and abstract reasoning at age 10, a new study suggests. Australian researchers gave neuropsychological tests to more than 2,600 children; a little more than 300 were exposed to anesthesia before the age of 3 and nearly 2,300 were not. The tests measured language, cognitive function, motor skills and behavior at age 10. Previous studies have relied on parent or teacher assessments, standardized tests and school grades to assess learning delays in children exposed to anesthesia. "Children who were exposed to anesthesia had lower scores in language and abstract reasoning at age 10," said study author Dr. Caleb Ing, a pediatric anesthesiologist at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York City. Even a single ... Read more

THURSDAY, Feb. 2 – Children who have more than one surgery with general anesthesia by their second birthday might be at higher risk for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), a new study suggests. Mayo Clinic researchers looked through medical records of 341 children diagnosed with ADHD before age 19, to find who had undergone a surgical procedure with anesthesia before they were 2. Nearly 18 percent of children exposed twice or more eventually developed ADHD. Children with only one exposure had an ADHD rate of nearly 11 percent, while never-exposed children had a rate of slightly more than 7 percent. The researchers also looked at anesthesia given to mothers during childbirth. "With Cesarean section with a general anesthetic, only a single anesthetic, we didn't find any effect," said study author Dr. Juraj Sprung, a professor of anesthesiology at the Mayo Clinic. The study ... Read more

WEDNESDAY, Oct. 19 – Obese children need special attention when they undergo anesthesia, two new studies suggest. In one study, researchers found that obese children with asthma suffer more complications from anesthesia than normal weight children with asthma. In the other study, researchers found that obese children require less of one type of anesthesia than normal weight kids. If a child is obese, has asthma or both, parents should expect close monitoring, said researcher Dr. Olubukola Nafiu, an assistant professor of pediatric anesthesiology at the University of Michigan. "Children who are obese and asthmatic have a twofold increased risk of developing respiratory problems when they are given anesthesia," Nafiu said. Both studies are scheduled for presentation Monday at the annual meeting of the American Society of Anesthesiologists in Chicago. To determine if complications were ... Read more

MONDAY, Oct. 3 – Among patients given general anesthesia for surgery, the length or depth of sedation was not linked to an increased risk of developing cancer within five years of the operation, Swedish researchers report. "Neither duration of anesthesia nor increased cumulative time with profound sevoflurane anesthesia was associated with an increased risk for new malignant disease within five years after surgery in previously cancer-free patients," study author Maj-Lis Lindholm, of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, concluded in a news release from the International Anesthesia Research Society. In conducting the study, researchers looked at data on almost 3,000 cancer-free Swedish surgical patients who were given sevoflurane – one of the most widely used inhaled anesthetics. The news release said other studies have raised the theory that anesthesia might reduce immune responses ... Read more

MONDAY, Oct. 3 – Children younger than 2 who undergo multiple surgeries requiring general anesthesia may be up to three times more likely than other children to develop speech and language problems as they grow up, a new study suggests. However, experts cautioned that the finding appears to be restricted to very small children who require more than one surgery. "A single exposure to anesthesia in surgery has not been shown to be problem, so parents can be reassured that this is not likely to cause any problems," said study author Dr. Randall Flick, an associate professor of anesthesiology and pediatrics at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. "For children who have or will have repeated exposures to anesthesia, it's important that those families have a conversation with the surgeon and anesthesiologist to determine the risks and benefits in a broad context." The new findings are ... Read more

TUESDAY, May 10 – Shortages of anesthetics are rampant across the United States, according to the results of a new survey. The findings revealed that more than 90 percent of 1,373 anesthesiologists polled (including more than 1,350 from the United States) are experiencing a shortage of at least one drug. And, within the last year, 98 percent of the respondents encountered a similar problem, the poll by the American Society of Anesthesiologists found. Among the anesthetics in short supply were: Neostigmine (57 percent) Thiopental (55 percent) Succinylcholine (48 percent) Propofol (40 percent) Glycopyrrolate (17 percent) In most cases, the drug shortages forced anesthesiologists to change the way they cared for their patients. In fact, more than 91 percent of respondents used alternative medications. Meanwhile, roughly 10 percent of anesthesiologists went so far as to postpone or ... Read more

WEDNESDAY, April 27 – Exposing young children to a brief, single anesthetic does not seem to cause long-term harmful effects on the brain, a finding that should reassure parents, researchers say. Previous studies in young animals have found evidence that anesthetics can cause developmental and behavioral problems, but whether the same is true in young children has been uncertain. In this new study, researchers compared the academic performance of two groups of ninth-grade students in Denmark: 2,689 who had inguinal hernia repair before they were 1 year of age, and 14,575 in the general population. There was no statistically significant difference in academic performance between the two groups, and the majority of students who had hernia repair in infancy showed no signs of neurological impairment, the investigators found. The study is published in the May issue of the journal ... Read more